Virginia
by Dancing on the Edge
Summary: At the end of Code of Claw Gregor moves to Virginia with his family. He must adjust to his new life without his old friends or the Underland, while keeping the Underland a secret from everyone.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Gregor was sitting on an airplane thinking about how much he was going to miss New York. He was headed to Virginia this year. He would miss his friends, mostly Luxa, Vikus, and Ripred, from the Underland. He had drifted apart from his Overland friends, he was too preoccupied with saving an entire world that existed underneath New York. Luxa especially, the fourteen year old Gregor had developed a bit of a crush on her… Oh who was he kidding, he liked her a LOT. However his parents and his younger sister Lizzie were absolutely terrified of the Underland, they hated the giant cockroaches, bats, rats, and ants that populated the exceedingly brutal terrain of the Underland outside of the city Regalia, where the humans dwelled.

Gregor had been integral in several prophesies made by the man who had founded the underground colony, Bartholomew of Sandwich. But now 'The Warrior' was dead, Gregor couldn't say that he would miss having to fight all the time, but he would certainly miss the company. He wished he had a photograph of Ares. His bond had died protecting Gregor from the snowy white Bane, giving Gregor the very chance he needed to strike him down. He would always feel an ache in his heart for his lost companion. He was glad he had a picture of Luxa though, he knew that the likelihood of his ever seeing her again were very slim.

"Would you like something to drink?" a chirpy stewardess's voice interrupted his musings. "Yeah, sure, a root beer," she poured it for him and handed it to him with a smile. "Thanks" he said. His family had gotten last minute flight tickets, after UPSing their stuff ahead of him. His parents were terrified that another summons like the ones that the rats had given would arrive before they could depart. Gregor was sitting apart from the rest of his family. His mom was only next to Boots because a nice lady had switched seats with her. It was odd, he couldn't even drink a root beer without being plagued by thoughts of the Underland, he had brought one with him in the Prophecy of the Grey quest.

"Prepare for landing, we will be reaching Roanoke Regional Airport in ten minutes," blared the loudspeakers as the voice of the pilot announced their arrival.

After landing Gregor grabbed his bag and headed to the front of the plane. He reached the gate, number M5 to find his family of five, plus his Grandmother waiting for him to arrive. Everyone looked exhausted. His mother's hair was wild, as if she had just woken up, Boots was asleep in her arms. Lizzie was leaning against a wall, her head tipped back and her eyes closed. His dad's clothing was rumpled and his eyes were bloodshot as he attempted a smile. Grandma was sitting on Lizzie's rolling suitcase, her favorite quilt wrapped around her frail shoulders. Gregor took Boots, and they set out towards baggage claim.

They arrived at Aunt Lillian's house at about nine o' clock. They weren't hungry; they had stopped at McDonalds and gotten everyone something to eat. Aunt Lillian, Uncle Jason, and Matt, their son, welcomed them. Well maybe Matt was a little too preoccupied with his X-Box to be very welcoming, but Aunt Lillian showed everyone where they would be sleeping, while Uncle Jason pulled out the hide-a-bed for Gregor's parents. Gregor was borrowing Matt's sleeping bag and would be sleeping on the floor of his room until the family could find another apartment. Lizzie and Grandma would be sharing the guest room, which had a bunk bed, and Boots would sleep on Lizzie's bunk with her.

It was lucky that neither Boots nor Lizzy were afraid of heights because it was the top bunk that they would be sharing. Grandma had to get the bottom bunk because she might need to use the facilities during the night.

At ten o clock everyone was in bed. It was the first day of school the next day and even Matt wanted to be well rested so he could look his best in front of girls he hadn't seen all summer. Gregor's family was just tired. As Gregor drifted off to dreamland he had a vague thought, what would happen the next day, his cousin lived in a fairly small town, it would be interesting trying to make friends, especially since he couldn't tell anyone about one of the biggest parts of his life, the Underland. Gregor slept.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gregor awoke suddenly, starting, as Matt's alarm clock blared noisily above his head. He wiggled out of his cousin's sleeping bag and quickly showered and dressed. He looked in the mirror after putting on his tee shirt and cringed. No way was he inviting questions about the scars on his arms on his first day of ninth grade. He went back into Matt's room to put on a long sleeved shirt, and saw Matt, still sprawled across the bed, his mouth hanging open a little. Obviously he hadn't heard his alarm yet.

Gregor walked out into the kitchen, and began to pack his backpack. His Aunt Lillian was making toast, and Lizzie was already up. She was going to Lincoln Court Middle this year.

"When do we need to catch the bus, Aunt Lillian?" Gregor asked.

"Seven," said Lizzie, before Aunt Lillian could even answer. "I can't wait to make some new friends. Sally, from summer camp, lives down here; I wonder if she'll be in my class?"

"Yeah." said Gregor glumly. He hadn't wanted to leave New York.

"Maybe you could join the track team here," Lillian said hopefully, "I heard that they really needed someone fast this year. The big winners all graduated."

"I'll think about it." Gregor said. And he really would. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of the Underland, and joining track might help him make some friends so he wouldn't be too lonely.

Matt stumbled out of his room at 6:50, blinking blearily. He grabbed his backpack, packed the night before, and joined Gregor and Lizzie for toast. He ate quickly, and left the house with Gregor and Lizzie, waving to his mother as he exited. He looked at Gregor and blinked.

"Dude. Why are you wearing that? It's supposed to be really hot today." He said incredulously.

"This is what I'm comfortable in," responded Gregor.

"Whatever, man. If you're gonna be all weird, try not to talk to me. Actually, try not to talk to me anyway. I'm a junior. The girls will think I'm weird if I hang out with my freshie cousin all the time." He sped up, almost jogging to the bus stop, where he met someone in a car. He hopped in, and the car sped away, leaving behind the aroma of exhaust and a cloud of blackish smoke.

"Ew." said Lizzie, wrinkling her nose at the exhaust. "Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are so bad for the environment. Matt's friend should get his muffler checked out."

"Somehow, I don't think Matt or his friend care much about how that car smells," Gregor responded wryly.

The bus pulled up, and Gregor, Lizzie, and four other people got on. Two of them were about Lizzie's age, and she had been conversing merrily with the girl while they waited for the bus. It turned out that they were both really into science. Who would've thought that making friends would be so easy for his sister? Gregor was almost jealous of how simple it seemed for his normally shy sister to make friends. He was expecting to have more trouble. He wasn't sure how to go about making new friends. He'd had the same three friends from kindergarten to his adventures in the Underland, when he had added several more friends to the mix. Everything was different in the Underland though. All of the friends he made there were because of his success as the warrior. And, except for Luxa, they were all quite a bit older than him.

The bus dropped everyone at the middle school first. Then it drove three blocks to the high school, where Gregor disembarked. He went to the office to get his schedule, and looked down at the paper the secretary had given him. Great. His first class was math. He wandered around the third floor, looking anxiously at the numbers above the doors, trying to find room 321. He had walked the entire length of the hallway, twice, and still no classroom, when the warning bell rang. He stood next to room 320, hoping to ambush someone willing to help him. He saw Matt, and took a quick step towards him, but Matt looked back at his friend without acknowledging that he'd seen him. Gregor slumped back against the wall. A tall boy dressed in all black was walking into room 320, and he noticed Gregor's defeated look.

"Can I help you?" he asked. Gregor perked up.

"Yeah, hopefully. Do you know where room 321 is?"

"You have to go through room 336 to get to it. It's weird as hell. I swear, the people who built this school were on acid or something. I only know 'cause I had English in 336 last year."

"Thank you so much!"

"Better hurry kid, 336 is on the other end of the hallway, and there's only like a minute until the late bell rings." said the boy, and Gregor took off.

Gregor stepped into the classroom with seconds to spare. He took the closest empty seat, which happened to be front row center, and prayed that the teacher, he consulted his schedule, Saunders, wasn't a spitter. He looked at the whiteboard, and wondered if all teachers were required to have perfect penmanship. The words were obsessively strait and even, almost as if the geometry teacher had taken a straightedge to the board to ensure perfection after writing everything down.

Mrs. Saunders stood up from her desk when the bell rang.

"Good morning, I am Mrs. Saunders. Congratulations on finding the classroom. Now, I will begin by handing out syllabi…"

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Noon rolled around, and it was time for lunch. Gregor had mixed feelings about this. He was glad to escape from the inevitable boredom of first day syllabus-land, but he also didn't have anywhere to sit. He pulled his sack lunch out of his backpack, and began to look around the cafeteria for someplace likely. There was the girl wearing way too much pink from his second period, sitting with a girl in blue and a boy who was way too tan to be normal. Nope. There was a table full of people wearing lots of black, and a table that looked like oompa loompas, and a table with one pale girl sitting by herself, looking dismally at her Tupperware bowl of macaroni. There. He would sit with the pale lonely girl, and maybe make a friend, but more likely just sit in awkward silence for a half hour.

"Hi. Can I sit here?" asked Gregor.

"Sure. I'm Mary. What's your name?"

"Gregor. I'm new."

"Me too. I moved here from Colorado."

"I'm from New York. I wonder if anyone else is going to sit with us."

"I hope so. I met this cute guy named Tim in my Psychology class, and he said he would sit with me."

"Awesome. I haven't been as successful as you at making friends…"

"It's a gift. I'm good at small talk. Oh, here he comes now!" Mary began waving frantically as the tall boy who helped Gregor find his math class left the food line. He must be Tim.

"Hey Mary. Hey boy who I helped out this morning. How'd you two meet?"

"His name is Gregor, Tim. And he's new here, like me." said Mary excitedly.

"I was looking for a place to sit. This seemed like as good a place as any, and better than some."

"So you're not a freshman?" Tim asked.

"No, I am. It's just that I also just moved here from New York, so I don't know anybody except my cousin."

"Oh. Alright then. Good to know my assumption wasn't wrong. Who's your cousin?"

"Matt Wilson."

"Ouch. Sorry man. I mean… uh…"

"It's OK. He already told me not to talk to him at school."

"He's been best friends with all the football guys for years, and he's a wrestler. And a jackass. Doesn't represent the team well at all. I wish I didn't have to deal with him, but he's all set to be team captain this year. Not looking forward to that."

"You wrestle?" Mary reentered the conversation with the question directed at Tim.

"Yeah. It's cool, most of the time. Doesn't start until November, so I've got a bit of a break."

They all stopped talking in favor of eating for a little while, until Gregor broke the silence.

"Hey, do you know if the cross country team is already practicing?" Gregor asked.

"They start today, after school. You should talk to Coach Link, he teaches history, about joining if you're interested. There are only three guys on the team. It's kind of pathetic, actually. I'm sure he'd be glad to have you, especially since you're wearing running shoes, so you'd be able to practice today." responded Tim. "So we've established what I do, and what Gregor does, what do you do in your spare time, Mary?"

"Not sports," Mary giggled. "Try more art and sewing. My cross stitch pattern won an award at the Colorado State Fair last year. I used to dance, but I was terrible. I spent a lot more time ogling costumes than paying attention to the teacher. I'm passing decent at baseball though. I might try out in the spring."

"What's cross stitch?" asked an enraptured Tim. He'd never talked to anyone who sewed before.

As Mary explained, a smile spreading across her face and her voice raising in excited happiness, Gregor zoned out. He pulled out his schedule, and saw that, by some happy coincidence, his next class was World History with Link. He could ask about cross country without having to go out of his way, or find another classroom that the, according to Tim, drugged up architects had hidden.


End file.
